The barista at the Lakewood Starbucks knew even before I did this afternoon that I would want an extra shot of espresso in my latte, which is why I'm calling her my Psychic Barista (which, incidentally, I've decided will be the title of my forthcoming attempt at an Elmore Leonard-like novel). I think of that term, psychic barista, in pondering this piece of news from the world of the arts: Officials for the San Diego Opera announced this week that it is closing down, singing its final fat-lady aria, and let me tell you, it doesn't take a psychic barista to ascertain why Dallas is in a much better position than San Diego (a city of comparable size) when it comes to the arts.

Born and raised in Dallas (Pleasant Grove, then four years at SMU), I took a detour of 19 years in San Diego (from 1978 to 1997, when I worked for the Los Angeles Times) before returning to my beloved hometown. I used to marvel at the similarities between the two cities, as much as I did their differences. In the most recent lineup I saw of the top 10 U.S. cities by population, San Diego was No. 8, Dallas No. 9. But when it comes to the arts -- especially funding of the arts -- there is no comparison.

San Diego holds an edge, in my opinion, in theater. It is hard to beat the regional-theater success of the Old Globe Theatre and the La Jolla Playhouse, both of which have sent numerous shows to Broadway. Especially during the years of Jack O'Brien as artistic director of the Old Globe and Des McAnuff, who held the same position at the Playhouse, San Diego offered a one-two punch in regional theater that was darn near impossible to match. O'Brien and McAnuff have left those positions, but both are still strong theaters. (San Diego also benefits theatrically by being only 120 miles from Los Angeles, where, you may have heard, a few actors happen to live.) When it comes to this post, there is also quite an irony to consider: The great and powerful O'Brien is coming here in 2015 to direct a world premiere for the Dallas Opera. Great Scott will be a full-length opera by composer Jake Heggie and Tony Award-winning playwright and librettist (and Old Globe veteran) Terrence McNally. The show will open the opera’s 2015-16 season at the Winspear Opera House.

Theater notwithstanding, Dallas holds an edge over its West Coast rival in classical music and opera and art museums. When it comes to art museums, it has much stouter competition from Fort Worth and Houston than it does from San Diego.

When I heard the San Diego Opera was closing, I thought immediately of funding, and how for the most part, San Diego arts organizations have long struggled with it. I used to marvel at the wealthy people living atop Mt. Soledad in tony La Jolla who would give money to the arts in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Dallas -- from whence they came -- but not to San Diego. That, of course, is not the case here. Dallas arts organizations have struggled in the past (the Dallas Symphony had terrible problems at one time), but few cities can match the home-grown largesse behind the $354 million AT&T Performing Center, which was built almost entirely with private funds.

Dallas benefits from reservoirs of, for lack of a better term, old money. It has scores of dedicated philanthropists who have committed to giving to the arts, which was not what I saw in San Diego. I wrote a while back, however, about Dallas' greatest generation of givers either aging or dying off, which is a problem. But in recent years, such relatively youthful philanthropists as Kelcy Warren (he's 58) have stepped forward with major gifts. He, of course, acquired the naming-rights gift to Klyde Warren Park, which he named after his then-9-year-old son (he was 9 when the announcement was made).

The arts simply do not flourish, or even exist, without dedicated philanthropists. Unlike Europe, most of the money for the arts has to come from the private sector, which some believe it should anyway. So I feel bad for San Diego, but unless there's a fundamental shift in the nature of giving in such cities -- unless they follow an example closer to that of Dallas or even Fort Worth -- the arts won't flourish and they may not exist.